Female thinking
by Alexandros Black
Summary: Walburga Black dies, and Narcissa decides to bring all members of her family together. Sirius/Remus.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

She was feeling depressed, laying on her deathbed, waiting for the inevitable to happen. Not because her life was ending—she was much too well-bred to care for minor annoyances like that; she wouldn't really die anyway, since a part of her would stay behind. Of course, a part of her mind couldn't stop thinking that she was too young to die, only sixty years old, whilst many other witches and wizards lived more than a hundred years.

But no, in general dying was the least of her worries. She was actually looking forward to it. Dying _like that_ was her worry.

Walburga Black had a big family, at least according to the pure-blood standards. She had born two sons and had three nieces. Five people, five descendants—at least—should be in her bedroom right now, grieving silently, perhaps sobbing, waiting for her loss.

But none of them were. She was alone, except for her faithful house-elf, Kreature. And it was her fault—_that_ was bothering her, really. That she had driven her own family away. She had erased Sirius from the family for leaving home because she had been abusing him for years; she had pushed Regulus to join the Death Eaters, getting him killed by orders of the Dark Lord himself; she had watched Bellatrix joining the Death Eaters and getting sentenced to Azkaban; she had erased Andromeda for marrying a muggle-born; and as for Narcissa...

Well, to be honest, Narcissa had no reason to hold a grudge against her! Narcissa was happily married to her Hogwarts sweetheart, who also was head of an old and rich pure-blood family, and it wouldn't have been possible if Walburga herself hadn't helped with the dowry issue.

So, really, Narcissa should feel gratitude for her aunt. But still, she hadn't shown up. When Kreature fire-called her this morning, the Malfoy house-elves had claimed their mistress wasn't at home and, twelve hours later, she still hadn't fire-called back.

Walburga let a sigh, the sound of which disturbed even the—as cruel as its mistress—house-elf. If Walburga Black's only remaining descendant didn't even want to see her dying, that meant only one thing.

Walburga had failed. As a mother, as an aunt, as Lady Black.

"Kreature," she said in her dying voice, "give me my wand." When the elf complied, Lady Walburga Black, head of the ancient and most noble house of Black, drew her family crest in the air and said, "_Prostheson_ Sirius Orion Black."

Her arm fell on the bed, as she passed away.

* * *

Sirius felt a tingle of magic deep in his core, enough to alert him even in sleep. Not that he could ever sleep peacefully in this god-forsaken place, surrounded by happiness-sucking beings. But this feeling was different. It was like a missing bond being reinstated, like a muggle circuit would feel if it was reconnected—not that muggle circuits could feel anything, of course.

Sirius had such a feeling only once in his life, but it was the exact opposite. The night he had left his parents' house, the night he decided he had had enough and sought refuge at the Potter Manor. That night, a little after he fell asleep, he had felt like the circuit had been disconnected. He was really scared at first and he had thought of waking James up. But after a few moments had passed and everything was fine, Sirius calmed down and fell asleep again. A few days later he had learnt that the twinge of magic was his disownment.

So, what was it now? The feeling was the complete opposite of that other time, so... could that mean he was a member of the Black family again? That made no sense!

And it made no difference as well. Sirius was probably going to spend all his life in Azkaban—commoner or lord—for a murder he didn't commit, without even standing trial; his life was practically over... As the wave of depression started getting the best of him, Sirius transformed to a dog and fell back to sleep.

* * *

Narcissa Malfoy had been avoiding her aunt all day, and for good reason! Being the only left descendant of Lady Black's, she had to endure the old woman almost every single day! It was better when her sisters were around, but no, the old witch had to go and erase almost everyone from the family! No, Narcissa wasn't interested in spending the whole day with her aunt only to listen to her racist rambling about Muggles and Mudbloods. She had better things to do.

It was only late that night, when she felt the familiar tingle of magic in her core. It was the same when Lucius' father had died. Lucius had felt it more intensely of course, since he was the heir to the lordship, but Narcissa had enough to recognise the feeling. It meant that Aunt Burga was now dead, and she, being the oldest—actually, the only left—member of the Black family was now the head.

No, that wasn't right. If she was the head now she would had felt the tingle more strongly, just like Lucius had felt it all those years ago. No, Narcissa's tingle meant she was merely the acting head, second in command in any case. Which meant that someone else was now the head... either Bellatrix or Sirius, someone who couldn't act their power for now.

Narcissa left the bed quietly, so as to not wake Lucius. She needed to think.


	2. News

**NEWS**

It was the day right after the full moon, at noon. The muggle alarm clock had gone off hours ago so he could fire-call-in sick to the travel agency he worked at. Remus didn't like lying, but there was no other way. Hiding his condition at Hogwarts had been one thing, doing it in the "real world" was another. He couldn't risk exposure. This job was way below him, but if he lost it he would be in more debt than ever.

He woke up again, this time from the constant door bell ringing. Glancing at the mirror and the wall clock while putting a robe on, he was informed it was around noon and that he was looking as bad as he felt. He opened the door to find a woman he hadn't seen in quite a few years, not since he and Sirius had attended her wedding.

"Good afternoon, Mr Lupin," she said politely. "I apologise for coming unannounced, but do you think we could talk for a while?"

Remus nodded and let her in. His cottage was very small and disheveled, but luckily it was clean enough. His mind forced him to remember the manners his late mother had taught him, and he offered her a cup of tea.

A few minutes and a pain relieving potion later they were having their tea in the garden.

"Mr Lupin," Narcissa Malfoy started, "I understand you had been a very good friend to the Potters and to my cousin, Sirius Black."

Remus' face twitched unconsciously. Every thought of James and Lily was like a stab in his heart. But Sirius... well, that was worse. Way worse. He decided to be blunt and get this over with.

"Mrs. Malfoy, Sirius and I were lovers for years and we were to marry. Lily was my first and best friend and James was like Sirius' brother, so my brother as well. I miss them every moment of every single day. But I don't understand how that is connected with your visit."

Narcissa ignored the question and posed one of her own. "Mr Lupin, do you believe that Sirius is guilty?"

Remus felt like he was going to panic. The thought of Sirius' betrayal was painful every day, but right after the full moon it was simply unbearable. "No. Yes." He paused. "I don't know what to believe. The evidence is overwhelming, but so is my knowledge of him. Sirius loved James as a brother and Harry like his own, he would never betray them. But then... Voldemort has his ways and you know this better than me." The pun was intentional. "I prefer to believe that Sirius was imperius-ed rather than believe he was acting on his own free will. I feel less insane that way. But I really don't know." He stopped before saying something impolite; he didn't really want to discuss this.

"Mr Lupin, I do know some things better than you. We both know my husband was a Death Eater and he knew who else were. Sirius wasn't a Death Eater. But Peter Pettigrew was."

Remus blinked, all signs of tiredness gone. What was she telling him? "Peter? No, that cannot be. Peter was not the type to..." follow a madman? wasn't he really? Peter was following James and Sirius like a puppy, and none of them was a Dark wizard. He dismissed this thought knowing where it would lead him. "Besides," he continued, "Sirius killed him, that much is certain."

Narcissa's face turned sympathetic, for the first time. "I'm afraid not. My husband met him about an hour after his alleged time of death at the Dark Lord's lair. They both went there to find out what was going on. Pettigrew was very much alive, although he had a finger missing and was bleeding because of that. He was panicked at the rumours that the Dark Lord was dead. He transformed into a rat and vanished and we never saw him since."

Remus ran a hand through his hair, a gestured he had picked up from Sirius. Could Peter be alive? And what would this mean? That... that what he had hoped in his heart for the last four years was true: Sirius was innocent. He was framed by Peter, who apparently was the one to have betrayed James and Lily.

If all this was true, of course, and all he had was Narcissa's word for it. He had met enough Slytherins over the years to know he couldn't trust them—Narcissa's husband included. He faced her straight in the eye. "Mrs. Malfoy, not that I am questioning your truthfulness, but why are you telling me this?"

Narcissa let a laugh. "Because, my being a stuck-up bitch —according to my dear cousin's terminology— does not mean I am not also honest and that I don't care about my family. Besides, it's my responsibility now." She stood up and looked out of the window, completely sober. "My aunt, Sirius's mother, Walburga Black is dead. She passed away last night. That makes either Sirius or Bellatrix head of the Black family and, while they both are in Azkaban, makes me acting head."

She resumed after a slight pause. "Aunt Burga was a cruel woman, Mr. Lupin. She abused her sons. She made one of them join the Death Eaters and get killed in the process. She disowned the other because he stood up to her and left home. She mistreated her husband continuously, not that he was any better," she snorted. "And last but not least, she disowned my sister Andy and forbade us to ever talk to her again. Not that I approved her marriage of course. But that's beside the point."

She stared out of the window for a while, obviously lost in her memories. After a while she turned and faced Remus again. "So you see Mr. Lupin, it is important to me to get my family back. And now that I have the power to do so, I will."

Remus sympathised. He had lost his family too. His mother and father. And then Lily, James, Sirius... the prospect of marriage and children. His mind was working full-speed. "So, you want my help to prove Sirius' innocence?"

"Yes, Mr. Lupin. Will you help me?"

Fuck he wanted to! But could he really trust her? Remus wasn't one to generalise — he knew stereotypes to be wrong, it was them that had lead to the prejudices that ruled the wizarding world: Pure-bloods were better wizards, muggle-borns were intruders, muggles weren't but animals and finally, Slytherins were evil... However, he was certain of two thing: a) Slytherins were all about the profit; they wouldn't help their own grandmother without gain; b) Slytherins would lie, lie and then lie some more to get what they wanted.

"Mrs. Malfoy, excuse the rudeness of my questions, but if we are to work together in all seriousness I need real answers. Firstly, what proof do you have of Sirius' innocence and Peter's guilt? Secondly, what are you getting out of this?" His look was polite yet stern. This was too serious for false politeness.

Narcissa's look was serious yet truthful. "Besides reviving the Black family? I admit that both my husband and I will profit from a closer proximity to the Potter heir. If Sirius is proven innocent he will be entitled to Harry Potter's guardianship, hence his votes in the Wizengamot. It will also give us good publicity.

"As to your other question, Lucius can show you his pensieve memories. I'm afraid that is all I have for now; this is where you come in, to help us find real evidence suitable for the court."

Remus closed his eyes and thought about it for a moment. Narcissa Malfoy probably was hiding something, both in terms of information and goals. However, what she was offering was good enough for him. The chance to verify Sirius' part at the Potters' death, to free him should he be innocent, to take Harry with them... Harry, their last connection to James and Lily. Yes, it had a lot of potential.

Moreover, Remus' senses were still heightened from the full moon. If Narcissa was lying, he would know.

"In that case... I don't know what we can do, but yes, it's time I did something for Sirius too. He always was there for me, he gave me everything he could and I let myself believe he was a traitor... what a ridiculous thought, Sirius a traitor. I was blind.

"It would be my honour to help you, Mrs. Malfoy. And now we're on the same side, please call me Remus."

Narcissa smiled broadly, in a gesture obviously meant solely for friends and family. "Please call me Cissy, Remus."

* * *

**Author's note: **I know I had promised this to some of you for a quite a long time. It seems that my muse decided to grand me with this one favour only today, though, so here it is, two small chapters. I hope she comes back soon, so you can have another in a reasonable time, however I can't promise it yet. In the meantime, please tell me how you like the story so far, and that means... review :)


	3. Memories

Lucius was sitting at his desk, skimming through the _Financial Prophet_ and sipping his hot coffee. Narcissa had woken him up at an ungodly hour today to talk to him about last night's events and they had spent the better part of the morning talking it through and scheming. Lucius was, of course, all for scheming but not without sleep or coffee!

So, when she left for Lupin's house, Lucius sat at his desk and tried to clear his head by doing something as trivial as reading the financial papers. Between the new competition for the expansion of the floo network and Minister Fudge's new taxing bill, he would be able to see how his wife's new station as head of the Black family would help him in his main concern.

How to make sure the Dark Lord wouldn't come back.

It was all his father's fault, of course. When Abraxas Malfoy first met Thomas Riddle, the latter was just a very promising young wizard. He was very bright, had graduated from Hogwarts with full "Outstanding" in almost every subject, was likeable, and had a clear head for politics. It was actually a shame for him to work as an underpaid clerk for "Borkes and Burges" while he could do so much more.

A group of Wizengamot members, including Lords Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson and Lady Zabini, had convinced him to claim his rightful place in the body, as Lord Gaunt. With Riddle's personality and wits and the Gaunt family's status as the last of Slytherin descendants, the group would be able to form a powerful lobby for some legislative measures they were trying to pass for years—none of which had anything to do with blood purity.

After the first few years—during which Riddle's name was frequently heard for the executive power, perhaps for the Minister's office as well—things started to get bad. Riddle was questioned for his muggle relatives' murders, and the only thing that kept the Aurors from pressing charges against him was that he couldn't be placed at the crime scene; perhaps he had used another wand. Then an old woman had claimed she had been under the Imperious Curse when she sold Riddle some family artefacts in a very small price. There was no evidence of course, but Riddle's name was injured.

Riddle avoided being seen in public for a while, but nobody thought much of it. And then, out of the blue, Lord Thomas Marvolo Riddle, head of the most ancient and noble house of Gaunt, had changed from a promising young politician to a magical terrorist, nicknamed Lord Voldemort, and his supporters from political friends to gang members. Abraxas had claimed that he was imperioused both when he took the Dark Mark and when he forced Lucius to take it himself.

Lucius' involvement was another thing. It was a bitter-sweet story, actually. Lucius was young and ambitious at the time. He thought that, if the Dark Lord won the war, he would overthrow the current administration and would establish his own, in which he was promised a crucial post. Furthermore, both his father and Narcissa's aunt had set his joining the Death Eaters an unofficial requirement for his wedding. Shortly after joining, he realised this man—more like a snake at that time—would show gratitude to no-one. Fortunately, baby Potter got rid of him—temporarily, that is—before all hell would break loose.

Lucius sighed. None of that mattered any more. Abraxas was dead, and so was Walburga for that matter.

What mattered now was that the Dark Lord remained dead as well.

A silver misty hawk broke his thoughts when it appeared in Lucius' study and started talking with Narcissa's voice. "Luc, Remus Lupin will join us. I told him just what we decided in the morning. We're expecting him tomorrow evening for dinner. I'll be home shortly. Cissy."

* * *

Narcissa sent a patronus to her husband and then decided she needed to do one more thing before she returned home. She cast a notice-me-not charm over herself and apparated to a familiar location.

She used to come here from time to time, just to observe. She wasn't allowed to do anything more and, in fact, that would put her in trouble too had anyone found out.

It was a small house, located at a muggle suburb. A little girl, just four or five years older than Draco, with brown hair and a heart-shaped face could be seen walking towards the house, dressed in muggle clothes and carrying a school bag. She was returning, Narcissa knew, from the muggle elementary school she attended, as the girl's parents were too poor to hire private tutors for her before she was old enough to attend Hogwarts.

The young witch entered her house's gate and, making sure nobody could see her, willed her hair to turn pink. That took her attention from the steps she was climbing and tripped just as she was opening the front door.

"Dora? Are you home?" Andromeda Tonks' voice was heard from the inside and then the woman walked casually to the front door holding her wand in order to heal her daughter's small injury.

Narcissa suppressed a laugh at the sight. Her niece was as clumsy as their mother had been, but she couldn't tell her sister that, because she wasn't allowed to even talk to her. But now things would change.

She smiled and disapparated.

Andromeda Tonks smiled at the sound of the apparition.

* * *

Remus behaved very properly as he let the house-elf guide him through the countless corridors of Malfoy Manor. He didn't stare, he didn't gape, in fact one would think he walked through manors all the time. He had had time to think and research since Narcissa's visit the previous morning. The evidence against Sirius was, in fact, circumstantial. The muggles on that street had only testified that Peter and Sirius had, indeed, duelled before the blast occurred.

However, there was something more pressing before he went to action. He needed to know for sure the Malfoys weren't lying. He also needed to find out more of their intentions. He was sure Narcissa knew more than she had told him.

He found the aristocrats in a cosy living room, gracefully furnished and warm with a bright fire. They greeted cordially and then Remus was shown to the Malfoy family pensieve.

After finding all the proof he needed of Sirius' innocence, Peter's guilt and Lucius' involvement, after he had his curiosity completely satisfied, he relaxed and let the couple give him all the information necessary for their full plan to operate. They spent the better part of the night discussing and scheming before Remus returned home.

He had to sleep well. They were putting the plan into motion the following day.

* * *

**Author's note:** I know, I know. It took me quite a lot of time to finish it, but you had been warned; I don't write quickly. Anyway, the juicy stuff—I mean, legally juicy stuff—are starting at the next chapter. I want to thank greatly my friend Vaggelis who proof-read that one and all of you for reading, reviewing and adding this petty little story at your alert lists.


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